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Trump labels Schiff ‘little Adam Schitt’ -- President Trump on Sunday attacked Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), labeling him as "little Adam Schitt" after the congressman suggested the appointment of Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker was unconstitutional. Michael Burke The Hill, Allan Smith NBC News -- 11/18/18

She walked Saturday in Paradise with Trump and Brown, and came away soothed -- Paradise Mayor Jody Jones got the call on Friday: President Donald Trump was coming to her fire-scarred town Saturday for a tour, and he wanted her to join him. Jones is a retired Caltrans executive who has dealt with governors and other high-ranking elected officials. But this felt surreal. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/18/18

How do you rebuild Paradise when all seems lost? -- Her name is Jody Jones and she lived on Lighty Lane and she is the mayor of Paradise. Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/18/18

Smoke from Camp Fire prompts UC Davis to cancel classes through Thanksgiving -- UC Davis last week canceled classes for Tuesday, following Veterans Day, but planned to resume operations on Wednesday. Following an uproar on social media, that decision was reversed and the school was closed for the entire week. Claire Morgan in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/18/18

PG&E reports second power line problem before Camp Fire. Paradise residents file lawsuits -- A week after reporting a power-line outage near where the Camp Fire is suspected of starting, Pacific Gas & Electric said in a regulatory filing that it suffered a second problem with a high voltage line the morning the devastating fire ignited. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/18/18

Separated By Fire, Man Launches Wrenching Search For His Wife -- Since the deadly Camp Fire barreled into the Northern California town of Paradise, Jim Knaver, who is in his 60s, has barely slept or eaten. The elementary school teacher's days have been consumed by visits to evacuation centers and hospitals as he searches for his 67-year-old disabled wife. Stephanie O'Neill KQED -- 11/18/18

This family fled the Camp Fire. Then they learned their garage became a makeshift hospital -- Desiree Borden thought she had time to pack her things. But a friend called saying the California Camp Fire was barreling toward her home in Paradise and would be at her doorstep in a matter of minutes. Borden and her husband grabbed their toddler, their dogs and raced out with the sad resignation that their home would burn to the ground. Allison Klein in the Washington Post -- 11/18/18

Fiery mailboxes and dogs in bags: fleeing California's wildfire -- Nicole Montague and her 16-year-old daughter Destiny noticed a red glow on the horizon as they drove to school in Paradise, California, that Thursday morning. They did not think much of it as they had seen fires nearby in the past. Since they had not heard any warnings, they shrugged it off. But within minutes mass panic broke out, said Nicole Montague, 45. Terray Sylvester Reuters -- 11/18/18

Trump mocked for telling California to rake its forests like Finland to reduce fire risk -- President Trump’s visit Saturday to the fire-ravaged California town of Paradise seemed to be going fine, until he began explaining his understanding of forest policy. Apparently, California needs to buy more rakes. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/18/18

California Offers Safe Space For Firefighters to Work Through Stress and Trauma -- On the morning of his 23rd birthday, Leonel Salas is just getting off the fireline after battling the Woolsey Fire all night in Southern California. "[We] can't get any rest while we're on the lines," he says. Alyssa Jeong Perry KQED -- 11/18/18

Lopez: Couple's house burned last year and they are already rebuilding. But with more fire protection -- If you lived in a neighborhood that was incinerated in a matter of minutes, what would you do when the smoke cleared? Would you say a prayer of thanks for getting out alive and vow never to return? Or would you tempt fate, knowing firsthand the destructive force of infernos driven by Santa Ana winds, and rebuild on the very spot? Steve Lopez in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Awash in money, UC San Diego enjoys a golden age in research -- UC San Diego has reached a lofty new high in raising money for scientific research, one that takes a lot of zeroes to express: The number is $1,200,000,000. At a time when researchers nationwide frequently complain that there isn’t enough money to go around, UC San Diego broke its previous record by $40 million. Gary Robbins in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/18/18

San Diego may require property owners to fix damaged sidewalk before they can sell -- Crumbling sidewalks and millions of dollars in injury lawsuit payouts are prompting San Diego to explore drastic action, potentially including a requirement that property owners fix nearby damaged sidewalks before they can sell. David Garrick in the San Diego Union-Tribune$ -- 11/18/18

Trump Says Of Midterm Losses, 'My Name Wasn't On The Ballot' -- Despite frenetically campaigning, rallying and tweeting support for Republican candidates in the lead-up to the midterms, President Trump didn't take any responsibility for the GOP's losses in those elections in an interview with Fox News' Chris Wallace that aired Sunday. "I have people that won't vote unless I'm on the ballot, OK?" Trump said, later noting, "My name wasn't on the ballot." Gabriela Saldivia NPR -- 11/18/18

Is Trump country really better off under Trump? No. It’s falling further behind -- Two years have passed since Donald Trump made his famous campaign promise in disaffected regions across the country: “We are going to start winning again!” For many voters who felt that they had lost ground in recent decades, the candidate argued, a vote for him would be rewarded with renewed prosperity and prominence. Anthony W. Orlando in the Washington Post -- 11/18/18

 

California Policy & Politics This Morning  

Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats -- Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange County’s undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the state’s six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. Mark Z. Barabak, Joe Mozingo and Michael Finnegan in the Los Angeles Times Michael R. Blood Associated Press Jordan Graham in the Orange County Register Adam Nagourney in the New York Times John Wildermuth in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/18/18

California Voter Turnout Sets Recent Record for a Midterm -- Preliminary projections Friday show nearly two-thirds of the state's registered voters cast ballots in last week's election, a recent record for a non-presidential general election. County officials estimate that about 12.8 million ballots were cast by the record 19.7 million Californians who registered to vote. Associated Press -- 11/18/18

California's campaign season goes extra innings when it comes to some unsigned absentee ballot envelopes -- The section of California election law governing absentee ballots lays out a principle that grows more important every year: The rules “shall be liberally construed” in favor of the voter. John Myers in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Willie Brown: How Republicans can save themselves in California -- Blue is the new red in California, with Democrats rolling up victories throughout the state, even in the historically Republican stronghold of Orange County. Willie Brown in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/18/18

Facebook Fallout Ruptures Democrats’ Longtime Alliance With Silicon Valley -- The alliance between Democrats and Silicon Valley has buckled and bent this year amid revelations that platforms like Facebook and Twitter allowed hateful speech, Russian propaganda and conservative-leaning “fake news” to flourish. Nicholas Confessore and Matthew Rosenberg in the New York Times -- 11/18/18

Walters: Outgoing Gov. Brown tries to forge big water deal -- As the Civil War raged, William Brewer, a young botanist from upstate New York, spent five years cataloging California’s natural attributes for its Legislature. Dan Walters Calmatters -- 11/18/18

Mass shooting in Thousand Oaks eclipsed by huge wildfires, families and friends of victims say -- Scrolling through his Twitter feed last week, David Clayton-Ready spotted a fundraiser for people who lost homes or belongings in the fires ravaging California. He felt a jolt. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Wildfire  

California fire: What started as a tiny brush fire became the state’s deadliest wildfire. Here’s how -- Before there was a spark, there was the wind. On the morning of Nov. 8, as the sun rose over the isolated mountains in the Sierra Nevada, gale-force winds tore through the canyon. A fire outpost on the Feather River recorded blasts of 52 mph — a bad omen in a national forest that hadn’t had a satisfying rain since May. Paige St. John, Anna M. Phillips, Joseph Serna, Sonali Kohli and Laura Newberry in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

It will take '10 to 20 years' before Santa Monica Mountains look like they did before Woolsey fire -- Two dozen biologists with binoculars and telemetry equipment fanned out across the smoldering gulches and slopes of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area on Friday to take a preliminary accounting of the damage caused by wildfire to prime mountain lion country. Louis Sahagun in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Death toll rises to 76 in California fire as Trump visits -- Nearly 1,300 people remain unaccounted for and the death toll from the country’s deadliest wildfire in a century climbed to 76, authorities said Saturday, hours after President Donald Trump surveyed what remained of a decimated Northern California community. Sudhin Thanawala and Terence Chea Associated Press Ben Poston, Angel Jennings, Joseph Serna and Javier Panzar in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Trump sees wildfire areas, consoles those harmed by shooting -- President Donald Trump on Saturday acknowledged Californians suffering from twin tragedies, walking through the ashes of a mobile home and RV park in a small northern town all but destroyed by deadly wildfires and privately consoling people grieving after a mass shooting at a popular college bar outside Los Angeles. “This has been a tough day when you look at all of the death from one place to the next,” Trump said before flying back to Washington. Jonathan Lemire Associated Press Kurtis Alexander in the San Francisco Chronicle Alexei Koseff, Dale Kasler and Benjy Egel in the Sacramento Bee Ben Adler Capital Public Radio Ryan Levi KQED Robert Salonga and Ethan Baron in the San Jose Mercury Roxana Kopetman and Jeong Park in the Orange County Register Jenna Portnoy and Anne Gearan in the Washington Post -- 11/18/18

Trump, Touring Fire Ruins in California, Repeats Disputed Claim on Forest Management -- President Trump walked through the ashes of the Northern California town of Paradise on Saturday, promising to help the state recover but repeating his disputed view that forest management was to blame for the fire, the most destructive in California’s history. Thomas Fuller in the New York Times -- 11/18/18

Trump mocked for telling California to rake its forests like Finland to reduce fire risk -- President Trump’s visit Saturday to the fire-ravaged California town of Paradise seemed to be going fine, until he began explaining his understanding of forest policy. Apparently, California needs to buy more rakes. Paul Rogers in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/18/18

PG&E canceled planned power shut-off in Paradise area just before Camp fire broke out -- When strong autumn winds roared into Northern California, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. decided it was going to take an extreme action to prevent a repeat of last year’s firestorms that destroyed thousands of homes in Santa Rosa. Taryn Luna in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

More than 1,000 structures destroyed in Woolsey fire, marking grim milestone -- The number of structures destroyed in the Woolsey fire jumped above 1,000, officials said Saturday night, establishing it as one of the most destructive Southern California wildfires in years. Angel Jennings and Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Areas affected by the California fires will probably get some rain over Thanksgiving -- Though it’s too early to give more precise estimates, meteorologists have “very high confidence” that Butte County will get 4 to 5 inches of rain from Tuesday night through the weekend, with the heaviest rain Thanksgiving night, said Eric Kurth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Lessons from Camp Fire: Staying alive in California fire country -- Even as smoke chokes the sky and shrouds the sun, millions of Bay Area and other California residents remain unprepared for the next inferno. Lisa M. Krieger in the San Jose Mercury -- 11/18/18

Despite what Trump says, Finland fires are totally different from California fires -- President Trump said California can learn from Finland on how to fight fires. But the fires that burned Paradise and parts of Southern California are significantly different from the forest fires that hit Finland last year. Joseph Serna and Paige St. John in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

California’s top utility regulator says PG&E bankruptcy not a worry, but fires are a ‘s--- pie’ -- Speaking to The Sacramento Bee on Friday, Michael Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission, said the bigger worry is what to do to stop the onslaught of devastating wildfires the state has seen in recent years. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/18/18

#RakeAmericaGreatAgain: Twitter claps back at Trump's comments about forest management -- President Trump’s rhetoric on California’s wildfires has been a source of consternation for some. Last week, he was widely criticized for blaming the state’s deadly fires on poor forest management, an idea experts were quick to debunk. But during his visit to Paradise, California, on Saturday morning, Trump made similar comments about forest management. Alejandra Reyes-Velarde in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

County officials failed to use cell phone alerts to warn residents about Camp Fire -- Thirteen months ago, a wildfire ripped through the homes of Sonoma County residents in the early-morning hours and killed 24 people who were unable to evacuate in time. County officials were later criticized for limiting the scope of their alerts to residents, and the Tubbs Fire tragedy was held up as a somber lesson in emergency management. Megan Cassidy in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/18/18

In Magalia, residents stayed to save homes, but now they’re stuck -- That night, Schlegel, Sumrall and five others were able to save 46 of the 47 mobile homes that were parked at their lot. Now they’re stuck. If they leave, they can’t return. There’s no electricity and the only food they have left are the ready-made meals firefighters dropped off for them. Sarah Ravani in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 11/18/18

Some Woolsey fire victims feel anger toward Trump as he makes his way to Malibu -- Carrie Armstrong, 57, of Topanga said she read the statement Trump posted on Twitter as the Woolsey fire in Malibu raged through the canyon and threatened her home. That tweet, posted a week ago, blamed the wildfires on poor forest management and misappropriation of funds. For Armstrong, the erroneous remark added what she said was a new level of betrayal by the president. Angel Jennings in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Malibu residents shift focus to resources that will help them rebuild after Woolsey fire -- Carol Bretonne, 78, stood in line behind more than a dozen people, waiting for the doors of a Malibu courthouse to open. The courthouse was serving as a disaster center for victims of the Woolsey fire. Bretonne wanted to find out what services would be offered to help rebuild her Malibu home. It was her second time she lost everything. Angel Jennings in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Despite the devastation, survivors of the Camp fire go forward with wedding -- The bride and groom locked eyes inside the Chico Women’s Club on Saturday afternoon, and for a moment the devastation of the massive Camp fire faded into the background. After all, the wedding of Morgan Shingler and Brian Gobba almost didn’t happen. Nicole Santa Cruz in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Why did some Paradise homes burn and others survive? A Cal Fire team sifts through the ruins to find out -- Buried within the harrowing tales of escape and heart-wrenching loss suffered by Paradise’s 27,000 residents, among the charred Ponderosa pines and scorched rubble, are clues to what transpired when a small fire broke out nearby on the morning of Nov. 8 and swallowed the town in a matter of hours. Joseph Serna in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Malibu residents help one another as they struggle to get their lives back — or just get into town -- The 76 Station at the corner of Corral Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu opened Saturday morning and quickly became a gathering spot for residents fill up, tell stories of their efforts to save one another’s homes and strategize on how to get by with limited utilities and spotty access to the outside world. Doug Smith in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Immigration, Border, Deportation 

Migrants get cool reception in Mexican border town -- Many of the nearly 3,000 Central American migrants who have reached the Mexican border with California via caravan said Saturday they do not feel welcome in the city of Tijuana, where hundreds more migrants are headed after more than a month on the road. Julie Watson Associated Press -- 11/18/18

Education 

Tony Thurmond is the new schools chief. Now what? -- With bucks and boots on the ground from California teachers’ unions, Bay Area Democratic Assemblyman Tony Thurmond declared victory Saturday as California’s new superintendent of public instruction, an outcome that essentially endorses the labor-backed education establishment in the state. Ricardo Cano Calmatters Ryan Levi KQED Louis Freedberg and John Fensterwald EdSource -- 11/18/18

After the Camp Fire, a school district is gone. But the kids remain -- The Boone children were among at least 3,800 of the more than 4,200 Paradise Unified School District students who lost their homes in the Camp Fire — the deadliest wildfire in California history. Scores of teachers and several school board members were also left homeless, according to officials with the Butte County Office of Education. David Washburn and Diana Lambert in the Sacramento Bee -- 11/18/18

Modesto Junior College and Columbia faculty schedule two-day strike -- Instructors at Modesto Junior College and Columbia College near Sonora will strike Nov. 27 and 28 to protest what faculty calls unfair labor practices by their bosses at the Yosemite Community College District. Garth Stapley in the Modesto Bee$ -- 11/18/18

Guns 

Hundreds gather for memorials for Borderline shooting victims in Thousand Oaks -- Hundreds gathered in a church at Cal Lutheran University on Saturday to remember Justin Meek, a 23-year-old who was gunned down at a bar in Thousand Oaks last week. Meek was one of 12 killed by a gunman at Borderline Bar and Grill on Nov. 7. Every day this week, families and friends held tributes across Ventura County to the people lost in the massacre. Soumya Karlamangla in the Los Angeles Times -- 11/18/18

Also . . . 

Fight for House speaker explodes into national political campaign -- Music legend Barbra Streisand retweeted a list of Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s biggest legislative achievements. Film director Rob Reiner called her “the smartest, toughest strategic thinker in our party.” And tennis champ Martina Navratilova wondered aloud why Pelosi’s job was at risk but her Senate counterpart’s position was in no such trouble. Elise Viebeck, Mike DeBonis and Erica Werner in the Washington Post -- 11/18/18

POTUS 45  

After trading barbs all year, Newsom and Trump meet at California fire zone -- Since the president announced his visit, there had been speculation as to whether he would be joined by the governor-elect, who campaigned as an alternative to Trumpism. Jeremy B. White Politico -- 11/18/18